July 31.] THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 275 
all tlie keeping roots have passed the ordeal of singling out, 
the final thinning, hand-hoeing, and a thorough cleansing 
from weeds. Such being the case, little can be done for 
these during the month of August; seed weeds, to be sure, 
may rear their heads occasionally, for after the most careful 
hoeing, or other cultural matters, some of these rogues will 
lurk behind in snug corners. Need we point to the immense 
importance of withdrawing them before a seed is shed. If 
the ground becomes baked, by all means try and get the 
hoe through it once more. If this is to be done, however, 
let it be in the very beginning of the month, and before the 
rows “ shake hands,” to use a farmer’s phrase in these 
parts. When once parallel rows meet, no mere cultural 
process can fairly be carried out, without the operator doing 
more harm than good. The crushing of the principal 
foliage at this period cannot be compensated for by any 
hand work. 
Bolters. —This may appear an unseemly term to apply to 
mangolds, carrots, Ac., running to seed. I It will be well, 
however, to accustom our allotment friends, who do not 
hunt for “ holiday phrases,” to the ordinary terms used by 
mere practical men. Such terms, and, indeed, all techni¬ 
calities may one day merge into an universal tongue, 
or mode of speaking, but as the learned men say, and 
always did say—we are in a transition smte;—when we 
are to arrive at the terminus of worldly knowledge is a 
secret for the present, liermetrically sealed. The term 
“ bolters,” as applied to vegetables, signifies a hurried or 
premature condition. Early sown mangold, carrots, and by 
chance the Swede, are liable to this, especially the two 
former; and we name them here, in order to advise the 
cow or pig “ tender” to look over his plot sown, and draw all 
such away. The pig or cow will greedily devour them, and 
the removal of such will cause the adjoining plants to ac¬ 
quire both extra size and quality. 
The Various Grains, &c. —Again we beg to remind our 
readers, that whatever things of this kind are really wanted, 
independent of gap-filling, must be got out forthwith. If 
the allotment man has room to spare, he may plant a few 
Broccoli plants, which he may, doubtless, obtain from some 
good-natured gardener. He should obtain some for autumn 
use, as the Cape and Cauliflower; some for mid-winter, 
as the branching Hammond, Snow’s, Ac.; and some for 
late-spring, as the Portsmouth, the Wilcove, Ac. Rich soil 
is necessary, and they must not be nearer than half a yard 
apart; the Capes will do with two or three inches less. 
Coleworts. —Those sown in the middle of June will now 
require getting out. We have before observed, that if the 
Matchless land (true) is used, they may be planted in beds 
about seven or eight inches apart. Thousands may be thus 
produced, and this is the very period in which to plant them, 
in order to be profitable, for they will sell well about Christ¬ 
mas, bunched and taken thus to market as the London 
market gardeners do. In growing such short-lived crops, 
we never dig very deep if in beds. A little manure is spread 
over four-feet beds, and then forked in about six inches, 
well mixing it. The edges are then thrown over the whole, 
paring the alleys clean out. The roots of the plants have 
thus the manure well-blended, close to them for immediate 
action; and this is the best economy. 
The Savoy is a useful green if the soil be good, otherwise 
they are not profitable. Indeed, from the circumstance of 
their spreading so wide their lower leaves, they are never 
so profitable for home consumption as some other greens. 
They are not very hardy, and, under these circumstances, 
we cannot press them on the cottager. 
Celery and Leeks. —These will soon want earthing-up, and 
liberal waterings will be necessary. They are both cultivated 
alike, or nearly so. 
Scarlet Runners. —As soon as they approach the top of 
the sticks, their heads must be pinched; these require 
abundance of moisture. 
Herbs must be cut forthwith, and placed thinly in an out¬ 
house or room possessing a slight circulation of air, but out 
of the sun; indeed, if somewhat dark, so much the better. 
As soon as dry, or nearly so, let them be pressed close in an 
old box, and fastened down so as to exclude air and dust. 
Seed Sowing. —About the tenth of August is a capital time 
to sow cabbage to prick out in beds for spring planting. 
Choose the Matchless kind principally. Cauliflowers. —If 
needed, sow about the twenty-fourth, on a warm and 
elevated bed. Onions, to stand the winter, sow in the 
second week. The Lisbon and the Welsh, perhaps, the 
best. Lettuces to stand the winter, sow about the twentieth 
on elevated beds, choosing the Bath Cos and the Hammer¬ 
smith cabbage kinds. Turnips (common) to go through 
the winter, in the first part of this month. We prefer the 
Dutch and the Stone. Spinach to stand the winter; sow in 
first week, choosing the prickly kind. Rich soil is neces¬ 
sary. 
Manures. —Let us again impress on the reader the neces¬ 
sity of looking well to the increase of his manures. Erom 
this period until the middle of October, every ditch and 
hedge-back teems with materials capable of augmenting the 
manure heap. If any part contains seeds, let it be got into a 
body, and partly charred before adding it to the manure 
heap. Shut up with a suffocating smoke, and a tempera¬ 
ture of about 150° ; in a few hours every living thing, seed, 
or insect, will be destroyed. It may then be added to the 
dung-heap and soiled over. R. Errington. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR— August. 
By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-keeper's Guide." 
Swarming. —In this neighbourhood, swarming, as I anti¬ 
cipated, has been unusually late, and, consequently, very 
little or no honey can be obtained from swarms this year. 
Where swarming is considered desirable, it is very important 
that it should occur early in the season. The swarm of the 
twenty-second of May, which I mentioned in my last calendar 
as being the first I heard of, has filled its hive and a glass of 
ten pounds; besides which it has thrown off an excellent 
swarm (by no means a desirable thing to happen), and this 
swarm has nearly filled its hive, and will probably work up, 
also, into a glass, for the great harvest of the lime trees is 
yet to come. Now, what an extraordinary advantage this 
swarm has had above those that came in the middle, and at 
the end of June; for the latter will not be able to store 
more honey than will be required for their winter consump¬ 
tion ; and many of them will, in all probability, want a 
supply of food to carry them safely through the spring. 
Early Swarms. —Now, as early swarms appear to be so 
very desirable, it may be asked what are the most likely 
means of insuring them ? And, in reply to this question, j 
I would say, leave the stocks rich in store in the autumn, the 
contents of each hive weighing, at least, from twenty to 
twenty-five pounds, and let the population, also, of each 
hive be very numerous; if it be not so, add the bees from 
weak hives to it. 
Forcing Swarms. —I was very desirous of getting a swarm 
from my own bees this year, to stock a set of new boxes 
which I am very anxious to test, and after waiting till the 
28th of June, expecting daily to have one, I could wait no 
longer, and decided upon forcing a swarm, which I am happy 
to say is doing remarkably well, and so is the stock. The 
process is most simple, the danger none (for I did it without 
any protection), and the time occupied not exceeding a 
quarter-of-an-hour altogether. The method adopted was 
this,—At noon (the day was bright) I took the stock hive to a 
shaded part of my garden, turned it bottom uppermost, and 
then placed upon it a new empty hive of the same size, and 
immediately commenced a continuous gentle tapping with 
two sticks upon the bottom hive,—in much less than ten 
minutes the whole population had ascended into the new 
hive, when I immediately placed this newly-peopled hive in 
the exact position the old one had occupied, and, conse¬ 
quently, all the bees that were out at work entered it on 
then- return. The old hive I carried about twenty yards 
another way, and, upon inspecting it, I found it to be so 
completely depopulated, that I was obliged to restore it to 
its old place for about ten minutes, that some of the bees 
might return to it. In removing this forced swarm in the 
evening to the boxes intended for it, I found they had 
worked two pieces of comb, each one above five inches long, 
so little did they appear annoyed by this unceremonious 
treatment. Both swarm and stock are doing remarkably 
well; the latter has pretty well made up its numbers, and 
will probably send out a second swarm. It may be as well 
to say that in forcing, or driving bees from one hive to 
